[HN Gopher] Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every...
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       Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon
        
       Author : lloydarmbrust
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2022-01-10 18:13 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.armbrustusa.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.armbrustusa.com)
        
       | hedora wrote:
       | Consider adding (affiliate) links to ones that did well, ordered
       | by availability or price.
       | 
       | Why Amazon doesn't do this is beyond me.
        
       | jmpman wrote:
       | Anyone have a scatter plot of resistance vs filter efficiency?
       | Watching each review would take forever. I want to explore the
       | results visually.
        
       | sschueller wrote:
       | I'm a bit confused by the listed results. For example one mask is
       | listed a KN95 and has a fail although filtering is stated as
       | 99.87%. Isn't a KN95 specifically rated to hold at least 95% of
       | particles of a certain size? Anything above is irrelevant as it
       | holds up to the minimum requirement? Or is it 99.87% of 95% which
       | I would still consider within margins of manufacturing
       | variations.
       | 
       | A KN95 that filtered only 75% is something I would be concerned
       | of. Additionally the fit in someones face can turn a good N99
       | mask into a useless mask which is also an important factor.
        
         | buescher wrote:
         | How they rate masks as passing and failing is not transparent.
         | They indicate they rate the masks on construction and smell but
         | do not give the scores.
        
       | dwohnitmok wrote:
       | Small note on the methodology link: I thought it was a 404 dead
       | link because when I opened it in a new tab it was a 404 (turns
       | out it's a pop-up modal).
       | 
       | I don't think what's described in the methodology actually lines
       | up with the result pages. In particular the methodology pop-up
       | has sections about construction and smell, but I don't think I
       | see them anywhere in the text of a particular mask review, i.e.
       | it doesn't look like they're actually a part of what goes into a
       | pass/fail score. Likewise there is a "Standard" field in the
       | review that is pass/fail, but it's not explained in the
       | methodology (I think this is basically a catch-all for "marketing
       | fraud" where a manufacturer says something about their product
       | that is just false?).
       | 
       | Nor is it described in the methodology what the pass/fail cutoff
       | is.
       | 
       | But the sheer number of masks is definitely impressive.
        
       | jaquia wrote:
       | This is great. Thanks for sharing!
        
       | david_allison wrote:
       | How does one verify whether the product on Amazon is legitimate?
       | Most masks have reviews referring to comingled fakes, and it's
       | put me off buying.
        
       | exabrial wrote:
       | This problem could be far easier solved by... minimum airflow
       | requirements.... or just stepping outside. Even in the Covid
       | hotspot of wuhan, there are only a handful of outdoor
       | transmission cases.
        
         | lloydarmbrust wrote:
         | I agree but many places, IE, schools, have terrible
         | ventilation... also I own a mask factory so my bias is going to
         | be providing info on mask filtration :-)
        
       | bryguy32403 wrote:
       | How to see the ones that failed?
        
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       (page generated 2022-01-10 23:02 UTC)